BPOS Point of Sale software provides comprehensive time clock and scheduling functions to ensure proper labor management. Within these functions users have three primary options to choose from, each fit to meet the needs of your organization.
Time Clock and Scheduling Options
No Labor Management
Users may elect to disable all time clock and scheduling functions within BPOS Point of Sale software. If this option is selected staff is capable of logging in and out of BPOS without the need to clock in or out. BPOS Point of Sale software will still maintain a log of staff members who logged in and out for security purposes but there would be no time clock or scheduling functionality enabled.
Time Clock Only
Users may elect to enable time clock functions but not scheduling functions. If this option is selected staff members will be required to clock in and out of the system and would only be allowed to log into BPOS Point of Sale software when they are actually clocked in as an active user. When selected, this option enables all time clock functions which are discussed in greater detail below.
Scheduling
Users may elect to use the full scheduling module. If this option is selected not only will staff members be required to clock in and out but this process will be directly integrated with a full scheduling system requiring them to actually be on the schedule in order to clock in. When this option is selected it enables all the functions within the BPOS Point of Sale software time clock and scheduling module and provides a full service labor management system which is discussed in greater detail below.
Time Clock and Scheduling Options
By using the BPOS Point of Sale software time clock system customers will be able to track employee time by job, track breaks and run basic reports related to time and attendance. The BPOS time clock works like most standard time clocks:
The Process
- Clock in- employees will be required to clock in before they can log in to the point of sale system. Once clocked in employees may log in and out of the point of sale as they please until they clock out. For security purposes, passwords, barcodes or thumb prints can be required for an employee to clock in. An employee with authorized access can clock in at any time. For employees with multiple jobs, the employee will be required to select which job type they are clocking in for during the clock in process. Since scheduling is not being used, the employee will be allowed to select any job as assigned to them within their employee master file.
- Clock out for break- an employee may clock out for break at any time after they have clocked in. This will be recorded as a break in the time keeping record and the employee will still have access to the point of sale system during their break. An employee may clock out and in for multiple breaks until the employee clocks out for the shift.
- Clock in from break- an employee may clock back in from a break at any time. Since the BPOS Point of Sale software scheduling functions are not being used there are no restrictions on the number of, or length of breaks.
- Clock out- an employee may clock out at the end of a shift any time after they are clocked in. When the employee clocks out it is recorded in the time clock system as the end of their current shift. This will close this shift for all reporting purposes. This does not prevent the employee from clocking back in later in the day for an additional shifts.
Corrections
The BPOS Point of Sale software time clock system allows authorized users to make corrections and adjustments to time clock information as needed. This includes adding employees who forgot to log in on time, editing break times for employees who failed to clock out or in before or after a break, and editing clock out times for employees who failed to clock out on time.
An audit record is maintained of all adjustments made. These records can be used as verification records to monitor changes for security purposes. This is extremely important when dealing with claims related to timekeeping.
Reports and Exports
The BPOS Point of Sale software time clock system provides a variety of labor reports and exports. The time clock system does calculate overtime in accordance with local laws. Reports may be run for hours worked, overtime worked, labor costs by department or job, labor costs by employee, labor costs by hour or department, etc. BPOS Point of Sale software provides for customized reporting throughout the software.
In addition, exports may be implemented to export time keeping information to payroll providers. These exports will eliminate the need for double entry of payroll information and eliminate the potential for human errors.
Scheduling
The BPOS Point of Sale software scheduling functions build upon the time keeping functions to provide the user with a full labor management solution. With the scheduling module all employee schedules are entered into BPOS and these schedules are used to monitor, track and enforce labor policies. The scheduling module is broken out into two main areas, the master and working schedules.
Master Schedule
The master schedule is used to setup the desired schedule for each week. This includes setting up shifts by department and job; and then assigning employees to each shift. It is important to note that this is simply the anticipated schedule. In the restaurant, bar and nightclub industries it is very common for schedules to change at any given moment and that is taken into account within the working schedule as described below.
The master schedule is also used as a primary tool to enforce labor policies within the facility. For example, while setting up the master schedule the user will be alerted to employees who are assigned to either conflicting shifts or shifts that would cause overtime. Based on security the user may be required to find a different employee or they may be allowed to assign the current employee but only via use of an authorized password.
The master schedule will help guide the user to make sure they stay within the policies of the facility when setting up the schedule. These policies are setup through the use of scheduling defaults.
Working Schedule
Once the master schedule is complete it will be copied or rolled over into the working schedule each week. The working schedule is where all "live" activities are recorded regarding employee work times and also where adjustments are made. The working schedule represents "actual occurrences" within your business day.
- Clock in and out- when employees clock in and out it will be recorded in the working schedule. An authorized user can look in the working schedule to see when employees actually clocked in and out for shifts and breaks.
- Clock in verification- when an employee attempts to clock in the BPOS Point of Sale software will automatically compare the clock in time to the schedule to (1) ensure the employee is actually scheduled and (2) automatically clock them into the job scheduled for. This process eliminates the potential for fraud both by clocking in when not on schedule and by clocking in for a higher paying job.
- Policy enforcement- the system can be set to only allow employees to clock in or out within certain grace periods before and after their scheduled times. This helps to keep employees from clocking in early too and being paid for extra time, and from clocking in late without anyone noticing.
- Adjustments- the working schedule is used to make adjustments as needed. Shifts can be added or deleted, employees can be changed from one shift to another and adjustments can be made to clock in and out times as needed by authorized personnel. As with time keeping, an audit log is kept to ensure compliance with all labor laws.
How it works
With the BPOS Point of Sale software scheduling module fully enabled the employee will clock in and out as normal. However, BPOS will automatically be verifying the employee is in fact scheduled to work, what job they are scheduled to work in, and if they are on time, early or late. BPOS will then either authorize or deny the login or log out based upon predefined limitations and if authorized, will clock them in to their appropriate job.
If shits are added, deleted or cut the on-duty manager can make adjustments as needed either via overrides or directly into the working schedule depending on the preference of management.
Reports
The BPOS Point of Sale software scheduling module provides additional report capabilities in addition to all the time keeping reports including many reports for control purposes such as late or early clock ins, late or early clock outs, manager overrides, when employees change shifts, when employee fail to show for a shift, and many other reports designed to ensure the user has complete control over their labor costs as well as needed information to properly manage the staff.
Let BPOS Point of Sale software provide you with control over your labor costs. Contact us today for a free analysis of how BPOS can help you.